Tepee camping

My plan was to set up a camping weekend for Father's Day, but I got behind the 8 ball and didn't get a camp site in time. So, we camped for the 4th of July instead, which was actually a nice break from our insane neighborhood where fireworks run all day on the 4th until about 1 am ... and not just a few ... it sounds like the center of Baghdad during a bombing campaign. We were able to watch fireworks in the nearby town and then go back to our nice quiet tepee afterwards.

We camped at Ensign Ranch, which is a church property near Cle Elum, WA. For those from WA who probably attended many Girls' camps there it's probably not that the first place you would want to go camping, but we had a great time! Also, a big positive for me were the flush toilets and showers.

We chose to stay in a Tepee, which was nice because we didn't have to set much up and it was fun for Ethan. The cars couldn't drive all the way to the tepee sites so they had hand carts available to pack in your belongings, which was just another fun thing for Ethan.

We had plenty of activities to keep us busy ... horse back riding, canoeing, giant slip and slide, hiking, playing at the river, etc. And, except for the horses, everything else was free. Love free entertainment!

We also found a train museum in Cle Eleum that had a train for Ethan to play on. A boy can never get enough about trains! Near the train museum there was the cutest train themed bed and breakfast. The main house of the bed and breakfast was originally an old bunk house for men who worked on the railroad. Adjacent to the house are 4 Caboose cars that have been renovated for sleeping ... super cute!

We also took a drive to the town of Roslyn which is about 15 minutes from where we camped. For those who watched the show Northern Exposure back in the 90's (I'm feeling old here) this photo below should look familiar. This building was shown in the opening credits of the show and the show was filmed in this town.

All of the playing and late nights took their toll on Ethan. He was asleep within literally 2 minutes of leaving the camp to head home. We may try and make it up there again before the summer's over ... but I may need my own bed just for me and my belly.

Baby Girl Vanegas

While many already know, we just wanted to share the happy news that we're expecting a baby girl at the end of September. All is going well so far with the baby and pregnancy. Ethan is very excited about being a big brother and always talks about how he will help feed the baby, play with her, etc. He also keeps saying that our baby won't cry. We'll see about that, but wishful thinking!

No more binky for Ethan

We're finally done with the binky!! I should have done it so much sooner, but procrastination always won over. After our Utah trip Ethan became even more attached to his binky because we gave it to him during the long drive and, during our long day with the Ironman, I gave it to him out of guilt for missing naps dragging him around all day. So, needless to say we drove him to the attachment he had. A few weeks of endless whines for his binky post Utah, we decided it was time for it to go. After many stories and advice from friends we decided to go with the binky fairy ... this allowed us someone else to blame for this traumatic event. We told him that the binky fairy said it was time to send his binky away and that he could request a small gift in exchange. He chose a yo-yo. So the agreed upon date came and he was actually quite excited to leave a letter and his binky for the fairy. However, reality set in once he was laid down to bed and he wanted to go get the binky back. We had 3 nights of waking up and crying for his binky, a few more days of requests to send the yo-yo back to the fairy in exchange for the binky and then he was done. He actually sleeps better during the night and still naps well during the day. It does kind of make me sad though cause it takes away one more tie to his babyhood and makes him seem that much older.

Burger Happiness

Finally a last post on Utah. We were also able to spend time in Salt Lake with Jairo's family and Ethan had plenty of fun with his cousins. What's more fun for boys than tractors in a sandbox?

Of course we had to take a trip to IN-N-OUT which, as usual, did not disappoint. I could go for some right now come to think of it! Although Jairo and I are elated that some of our favorite California eateries have now made residence in Utah, we are a bit perturbed that they all arrived after we moved and have yet to make their way to the Washington area. It's probably better that way ... I'm a bit of a glutton for certain fast food joints.

Hiking Maple Canyon

Continuing with delayed posts about our Utah trip ... after the Ironman we spent a few days in Nephi, UT with my parents. Ethan of course loved all the attention from grandparents. Luckily the cold snowy weather let up and we were able to spend a day hiking Maple Canyon which is about 20 minutes from Nephi. The scenery was beautiful and looks to be a great place to rock climb as the rocks were littered with climbing devices. Hiking is also a great way to entertain Ethan for the day. He had a blast climbing and jumping off rocks and exploring caves. We even found an area with some cool pictographs.

On the drive to Maple Canyon we had passed several sheep farms and promised Ethan that on the way home we would pull over so he could get a closer look. Well, to our good fortune on the way home a whole heard of sheep decided to take a stroll and we had to stop to let them pass. Ethan could not have been more thrilled as we all got out to get a close encounter with the sheep. Since it was early spring there were lots of cute little lambs for us to enjoy.